ULA’s sixth launch of 2016

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 421 configuration rocket will launch the NROL-61 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office on Thursday, July 28, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

BREVARD COUNTY • CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION – A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 421 configuration rocket will launch the NROL-61 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office on Thursday, July 28, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Liftoff is scheduled during a four-hour unclassified launch period of 8 a.m. to 12 noon EDT.

The mission will be launched for the National Reconnaissance Office in support of national defense.

NROL-61 will mark ULA’s sixth launch of 2016 and the 109th since the company was founded in 2006. It also will be the sixth Atlas V to launch in the 421 configuration.

Stacking of the rocket began on Friday as engineers delivered the 106.6-foot-long, 12.5-foot-diameter first stage to Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility, used a crane to lift it upright and then placed it aboard the mobile launch platform to accomplish LVOS — Launch Vehicle On Stand.

Satellite-deployments for the NRO are a mainstay in the U.S. launch industry as the agency sends up fresh replacements for its constellations of imaging, eavesdropping, surveillance and data-relay spacecraft.